Chevy vs. Ford in heavy-duty pickup truck race

GM thought they had a winner with the 6.6-liter Duramax V8 in the Chevy Silverado. The diesel engine got 397 horsepower and 765 lb-ft of torque, outclassing the Ford SuperDuty, its chief competitor. Then, engineers at Ford found a way to make a slight modification to the truck’s engine, boosting it to 400 horsepower and 800 lb-ft of torque and making the best in class again. The automaker offered the boost to anyone who had bought a SuperDuty and implemented it on all future models.

But Chevy isn’t buying it. The company has issued a throw-down to Ford, asking it to put its money where its mouth is. The automaker proposed a heavy-duty tow-off – see which truck could tow a trailer up a mountain the fastest. It would also test the truck’s exhaust brake.

Ford declined, saying that the vehicle’s superior sales numbers speak for itself. The automaker doesn’t have much to gain from the challenge since it’s already considered to be the best in the class by many. Still, Chevy will go ahead with the challenge with an independent committee on hand to judge the results.

The large size of these trucks means that buyers with bad credit car loans will likely have to shop on the used car market to find an affordable one, but if they need the extra power for a small business, the cars could represent good value.